WHAT IS TOURISM travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes., and refers to services in support of this law. According to the World Tourism Organization, tourists are people who "travel and stay in places outside their usual environment for up to one year consecutive holidays, business and other purposes that are not connected with the exercise of compensation to 'inside of a place visited ".

Tourism has become very popular, global activity. In 2004, there were over 763 million international tourist arrivals.

As a service industry, tourism has numerous tangible and intangible elements. The main tangible elements include transport, accommodation and other components of the hospitality industry. Intangible assets related to the purpose or motivation to become a tourist, such as rest, relaxation, the opportunity to meet new people and experience other cultures, or just do something different and have an adventure.

Tourism is vital for many countries, due to revenues generated by the consumption of goods and services by tourists, the taxes levied on businesses in the tourism industry, and employment opportunities and economic progress in the industry working . For these reasons, NGOs and government agencies may sometimes promote a specific region as a tourist destination and support the development of a tourism industry in this region. The current phenomenon of mass tourism can sometimes result in over-development, alternative forms of tourism such as ecotourism seek to avoid the results through the development of sustainable tourism.

Tourism and travel terms are sometimes used interchangeably. In this context travel has a similar definition to tourism, but implies a more focused journey. The concepts of tourism and tourism is sometimes used pejoratively to describe a superficial interest in the cultures or locations visited by tourists.